Minister requests expeditious Pleiku Airport upgrade

Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang has asked for accelerated progress
on the upgrades and expansion of Pleiku Airport in the Central Highlands
province of Gia Lai which began in late September last year.

During
his tour to the locality on March 11 to inspect the project’s
implementation, the Minister noted that the investors and contractors
should take advantage of the current favourable weather patterns to
hasten progress, while emphasising the importance of supervising and
ensuring quality.

Per the announced project agenda, the
airport’s runway, taxiway, hangers and other facilities will be upgraded
and expanded to the west.

Notably, the runway
was enlarged from 36 metres in width to 45 metres and from 1,830 metres
in length to 2,400 metres in order to accommodate A321, Boeing 737 and
other equivalently-sized aircraft.

The
project has an investment of 945 billion VND (44.5 million USD),
co-funded by the State budget, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam and
Gia Lai’s provincial budget. The project’s first phase was completed
earlier this month and its second phase is scheduled to be complete in
late August.

The same day, Thang also examined the construction of Ho Chi Minh Highway section running through the Central Highlands.

He
hailed effort of the project’s Management Board and relevant units in
accelerating the progress and ensuring the quality of the work, noting
that the Ministry will swiftly address contractors who did not meet
quality standards as committed.-VNA